tour food

Here's some food-related photos from my tour to the East Coast. Well, most our from NYC here...because let's face it, that city is a food mecca. You can get anything you want in the world and any hour of the day/eve. The one bummer was the I've been suffering from TMJ (my jaw hurts), and with every single thing I ate on the trip I was in absolute pain. God, the lengths I'll go through to have my NY slice....my bagel. Anyway, for those concerned, I'm having some massage work done on my jaw and it's helping a lot. I'm not in nearly as much pain.

When I arrived in NY and my friend Jenny's we decided to order Patsy's pizza. Thin crust...some of the best you'll find in NY. Pizza anywhere else in the country just doesn't compare. But hey, I'm from NY. I was spoiled on great pizza from the start. It's all about the crust for me. And it's gotta be thin. We ordered a margarita...easy, just mozz and basil. They have several locations in Manhattan.

Okay, I wasn't actually watching my calories on this trip, but it was "Tour-cation!" Next stop, the famous Shake Shack. They have several locations. We went to one on the upper west side. So it's sorta like McDonald's but amped up like 10 times. It's a better burger for sure. The fries are krinkle-cut and crispy. And the shake is outstanding. I chose vanilla.

One of my favorite treats that I swerve through traffic and pull over to get when I spot from the road is Carvel ice-cream. Again, this is another childhood memory and there ain't no Carvel in the midwest. Sorry Dairy Queen...you're not the same. Carvel is the BEST SOFT ICE CREAM!  I worked at Carvel in Chilmark, NY when I was in high school. That Carvel store is still there! I loved it. I learned how to make the swirly cones and apply the sprinkles....not "jimmies" folks...sprinkles. You make your cone and then dump it into a rectangular container of chocolate or rainbow sprinkles and you spin the cone until the ice-cream is covered in the sprinkles. The ice-cream is soft, but hard enough to withstand being turned on it's side. It's brilliant I tell you. But any Carvel I visit now does not use this method. They spoon sprinkles on top which really doesn't do the trick. Weak....

The commercial on TV were hilarious and memorable. Tom Carvel, founder of the company would appear in one of his stores, with his raspy Bronx (or maybe Brooklyn) accent and shout out the cake options. And remember the flying saucers? Oh Boy!

I worked at Carvel with my friend Kassie Callaghan. She was an expert at making the Carvel ice-cream cakes. They are famous for having the chocolate crunchies in the middle! There was the " Fudgie Whale of a Dad" Father's Day cake, the "Cookie-Puss" and your standard birthday cakes. I've noticed you can buy the cakes at Dominick's here in Chicago, but no ice-cream stores. Needless to say, I pulled over to the ugliest rest stop off of the Jersey turnpike last week to get my Carvel fix. Vanilla-Chocolate swirl...best of both worlds! I refrained from ordering sprinkles for fear of the spooned-over technique.
Ready....here's the cheer...sing it with me..."Carvel....ice-cream....Carvel....ice-cream!" I like the little plastic cone jacket they give you now.

At last but not least....breakfast in Cleveland, served by my good friend Jennifer Teeter. It was nice that she had Challah bread....nice and soft on my jaw!